Up close with iOS 5: Photos and Camera changes

13.10.2011
As the saying goes, the --and that makes your device's camera one of its most important features. So it's no surprise that Apple would bolster photography features with iOS 5.

If you've bought photography apps from the App Store in the past couple of years, you may find that some of the new photo features in iOS 5 offer similar functionality. But now those features will be available for everyone, on every iOS device that has a camera, with no App Store shopping spree required.

That saying about the best camera being with you? It doesn't say anything about swiping to unlock, entering a passcode, finding the Camera app's icon, and then waiting for the app to launch. Sometimes the right moment passes before your device is ready to be that "best camera."

With iOS 5, the act of removing your device from a pocket and snapping a photo is much simpler. Now if you double-press the Home button, a camera icon appears to the right of the unlock slider. Tap it once, and the Camera app will automatically open.

If your device is usually locked behind a passcode, fear not: in this mode the Camera app is limited. You can take photos and view or delete images you've just taken, but you can't access any other images from your Camera Roll.